Football team loses final district game at Eudora

Eudora  The Tonganoxie football season ended the way it began too little offense, too many big plays for the opposition.

The Chieftains started strong, driving from their own 20 yard line to the Eudora 18 before settling for a field goal.

John Barnes rolled right and found Aaron Minor open for a 25-yard gain on the first play of the drive.

Adam Bundy carried for 11 yards on a run behind the left side of the offensive line.

And Ryan Lowe kicked the 25-yard field goal, giving the Chieftains the early lead in the district game.

The defense then played well, forcing punts on consecutive Eudora drives.

But then the mistakes started to mount. A Tonganoxie fumble near the Chieftains' own endzone set up a three-yard touchdown by Cardinal quarterback Aaron Rose.

The next Cardinal touchdown came after the Chieftains were a few inches short after going for it on fourth and one at the 50.

And the final Eudora touchdown of the half came with no time on the clock.

Barnes placed the ball at the Eudora 32 yard line for another Lowe field goal attempt.

The Cardinals blocked the kick, Aaron Slavin picked up the ball, and he ran it back for a touchdown.

For Steve Hughes, Tonganoxie football coach, the game was a replay of previous games this fall.

"We just didn't turn some of the big plays we needed to," Hughes said.Tonganoxie had a couple of chances to get back in the game in the second half.

Eudora received the second half kick off and turned the ball over on downs on the Cardinal 41 yard line.

On the first play, Barnes lofted a pass down the right sideline. It glanced off of Minor's hands at the 10 and would have been a touchdown if he had caught it.

Late in the third quarter, Barnes did hook up with Minor, completing a 39-yard pass through double coverage after sidestepping a charging defensive lineman.

The play got the Chieftains to the Eudora 39. Four plays later, on fourth and 11 at the 12, Neil Rieger grabbed another pass and carried it to the goal line where the ball popped loose. The Cardinals recovered it in the end zone for a touchback.

Eudora added a late touchdown on a 85-yard touchdown run by Jerrad Born.Hughes could only bemoan the lost opportunities.

"We gave them 14 points or more," Hughes said.

But despite the big plays, the Chieftains played well in the second half of the game.

"I was real pleased with the kids," Hughes said. "They didn't lay down and quit."

Hughes said he was pleased with the play of the seniors. He noted that a lot of the players had taken snaps despite injuries.

"We're so thin numbers wise," Hughes said. "A lot of these kids have had to step up and play injured."